Crazy Beautiful
by LetTheRadioBreakTheSilence
Summary: Shane can't stand his co-star, Victoria. She seems to enjoy making him miserable. But will their relationship in the movie affect their relationship in real life? Will his feelings change when he finds out the real reason she treats him so badly?
1. Chapter 1

"I just don't think I can trust you," she told him. She ran her fingers through her long, curly, dark brown hair, and looked down at the ground. "Girls talk…and they all say that you're a player."

"I know, but I've changed, I swear," Shane said, touching her face gently.

"CUT!" the director, Max, shouted. "Victoria, you cringed again!"

"Can you blame me?" she asked sarcastically, hands on her small waist.

Max sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Let's just call it a day…you guys should get some sleep before _Good Morning, America_ tomorrow."

"Thank God," she said, making a bee line for her dressing room and accidently bumping into Shane's arm on her way.

"Bitch," he muttered. He knew that she wasn't sorry. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if she had done it on purpose.

Victoria stopped dead in her tracks and spun around. "_What_ did you just say to me?"

He turned around and glared at her. "I called you a bitch."

She gasped dramatically. "How _dare_ you?"

"You can't treat people like shit just because you're beautiful," he shouted. "You're not even _that _beautiful…"

He was lying. She _was_ thatbeautiful. She had the kind of hair that just made you want to run your fingers through it. She was 21-years old, thin, tan, 5'6", with the perfect body and curves in all the right places. But no amount of makeup could hide how ugly she was on the inside. Victoria St. Claire, his co-star; the girl on the cover of all the magazines, the girl all the guys wanted, the hottest girl in Hollywood…and unquestionably the meanest.

"Hey! Don't start this again!" Max screamed.

Victoria gave him one last dirty look before she started walking back to her dressing room.

_I must be the only guy on the planet who can watch her swing those hips like a runway model and not feel anything but hatred for her_, he thought as his eyes followed her out of the studio.

Shane had been so excited when he had gotten this part. Sure, the script wasn't that great – it was like every other romantic comedy about high school kids – but he and his band got to perform, and there was nothing better than that. He'd also been excited to star next to Victoria, especially when he found out that there was a kiss between them. But as once he actually met her, he had been dreading it; he had even tried to convince the director to write it out of the script. He had never met anyone so rude.

He flopped down onto the couch in his dressing room, rubbing his eyes. He was exhausted. They'd been filming all day, and they had to restart that scene four times because she flinched every time he touched her. He didn't understand how an actress could be so unprofessional.

"Ah-hem…"

"What now?" he asked, his eyes fluttering open to meet her stunning green eyes.

Victoria looked at him, making it clear that she wasn't any more thrilled to be talking to him than he to her. "I just want to make sure that you're going to wear a neutral color on the show tomorrow, because I'm wearing yellow. Gray would be best."

"What does it matter?"

"Because I need to be brighter," she told him, as though it were obvious. She crossed her arms across her chest, only drawing more attention to her low-cut shirt. "Yellow draws more attention."

Shane stared at her blankly. _Is she serious?_ "Actually, I was planning on wearing lime green."

She pointed a warning finger at him. "That _better_ be a joke, and it is _not_ funny."

He shrugged and smiled sarcastically. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see."

"You're such an ass," she retorted, brushing her long hair over her should and disappearing from his sight.

_That was kind of fun_, he smirked. He grabbed his keys and flicked off the light switch as he headed to his car; he had a little shopping to do. He had some unique clothes at home, but he needed something outrageous that would take all attention away from her.

As Shane skimmed through the garments on the racks, he thought about Victoria. He had seen her movies – she was an incredible actress. She was a year younger than him, and she had already won an Oscar, as well as three MTV Movie Awards. He'd watched her acceptance speeches; she seemed so kind, so humble. He'd seen her interviews, and she always seemed so sweet. How could she be so selfish and stuck-up in real life?

It wasn't even that she was mean to everyone – it seemed to be mostly directed towards him. The first time they met, she had seemed fairly nice, but the next time he saw her she seemed set out to make him miserable. He knew that he didn't do anything to deserve it.

He wondered why she acted the way she did, but he couldn't think of anything that would excuse her behavior. And just to prove that she couldn't boss him around, he picked out a purple, leopard-print vest. _Perfect_. Nobody was going to be looking at her tomorrow morning, no matter how bright her yellow was.


	2. Chapter 2

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Victoria scorned as soon as Shane walked on to the set of _Good Morning, America_. She took a sip of her coffee.

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked, feigning innocence.

She stood up and walked towards him, her high heels clicking with every step. They matched the color of her dress exactly – a strapless sundress that was tight in the body and fell freely over her legs. Half of her hair was pulled up, with a few stray curls falling around her face. She looked incredible, and if she wasn't so rude, Shane probably would have told her so.

"Take that off _right now_," she said seriously. She was almost his height in the tall heels, which made her a little more intimidating, but he wasn't going to let her know that.

He smiled smugly. "You want to borrow it?"

"I want to destroy it," she replied. "Take it off. Now."

He pretended to think about it before shaking his head. "I don't think so."

"Fine," she said flatly, glaring at him. "Be that way."

She took a step towards him as though she was trying to walk by him, and then pretended to trip. Her coffee spilled all over Shane.

"You did that on purpose!" he shouted, trying to wipe the hot liquid off of him.

"Oops," she smiled ingenuously, walking away before he could say anything more.

Shane sighed heavily, unbuttoning the vest and pulling off his shirt underneath, throwing them both aside. He went to a rack of clothes near the wall and grabbed a white, button-down shirt. He figured that she always got what she wanted, but he didn't think she would do something so petty. He was quickly learning that he shouldn't put anything past her. He was grateful that their interview was only about five minutes long; he wanted to get as far away from her as he could as fast as he could, until they had to shoot the last scene later – the kiss.

He hoped they wouldn't talk too much about the movie. They were actually being interviewed because they had been named by People Magazine "The Hottest Guy/Girl under 25" in their respective categories.

"Shane, thirty seconds," a stagehand told him.

"Thanks," he replied, standing near the edge of the set.

Victoria came over and stood next to him. She smiled smugly. "You like nice…and plain."

He just rolled his eyes. He didn't want to get into it with her right now. At the cue of the stagehand, they both plastered a huge smile on their face and stepped out onto the set, waving to the audience happily. They both hugged their interviewer, Diane Sawyer, and took a seat next to each other on the peach-colored couch.

"Great to have you both here," Diane told them.

"Thanks for having us," they said in unison.

"Shane, you were named 'Hottest Guy under 25' and Victoria, 'Hottest Girl under 25.' How did you feel when you heard that?" Diane asked.

"I was so flattered," Victoria started before Shane could. "But what's most important to me is that people can watch my films and relate to them."

"Yeah, I was surprised," Shane added. "It's pretty cool."

"Tell us about your new movie, _The Popular Girl_."

"Oh, it's so great. My character, Stacy, is really popular and perfect. All the guys at school want her, but she kind of gets this crush on Matt…Shane's character, who is kind of a rebel. He's in a band," Victoria explained.

"And you and Connect Three perform in it, is that right?" Diane asked Shane.

"Yeah," he replied. "A couple times, and then I do a song towards the end by myself."

"You were wearing a much more…colorful outfit when I saw you earlier backstage, Shane. Why the change?"

Victoria glanced at him and decided to answer before he did, so that he couldn't say something bad about her. "Oh, you know how it is walking in heels sometimes…I tripped, and I got a little coffee on him. I'm always doing things like that."

She patted his knee as though they were old friends.

"Yeah, Tor, you're such a klutz," he laughed, playing along. He thought the nickname had been a nice touch.

He saw her face fall a little.

"Well, we need to take a break. Thanks so much for joining us, guys," Diane smiled.

"Anytime," they both replied.

As soon as the cameras were off, they stood up and walked off the set, maintaining their faux-happiness until they were out of the audiences' sight.

"You should win an Emmy for that performance," Shane told her sarcastically.

"Shut up," she said quietly, but it wasn't in her usual bitchy tone; she sounded sad.

He considered asking her if she was okay, but he knew he would probably just get a cynical comment in return. He headed out to his car; he had four hours until he needed to be on location, and he was definitely going to spend it sleeping.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Song is "For the Girl Who Has Everything" by NSYNC.**

"Think of it this way: the more times we have to do this scene, the more times you are going to have to kiss each other," Max told them. He couldn't stand for a repeat of yesterday's scene.

"Once!" he shouted to her, holding up one finger. _I should've gotten drunk before I came here, maybe then I wouldn't remember this_. Luckily, they were filming at a high school about a block away from their hotel. He just wanted to hide out until they could leave Chicago and go back to LA. At least he'd get a week away from her before they had to start traveling together to promote the movie.

"And...action!"

Shane strummed his guitar, on stage in front of a sea of extras.

"_You drive a pretty car_

_You know how fine you are_

_Nobody needs to say it_

_They love the clothes you wear_

_They compliment you and I just love the way you play it_

_But the only thing you dream of, money can't buy for you_

_And in my dreams, I make your wish come true_

_For the girl who has everything_

_I bring you love, I bring you love_

'_Cause the girl who has everything can't get enough of my love_

_Why do you run and hide?_

_Say what you feel inside_

_Why must you always fake it?_

_Girl you need to understand your heart is safe within my hands_

_I promise I'll never break it_

_I know that you still dream of what money can't buy for you_

_And in my dreams, I make your wish come true_

_For the girl who has everything_

_I bring you love, I bring you love_

'_Cause the girl who has everything can't get enough of my love…"_

He jumped from the stage and waded through the crowd towards Victoria, who was standing in the back.

He took her hands in his, reciting his lines. "Stacy, I don't care what my friends think, and you shouldn't either. We should be together."

She smiled, fake tears in her eyes. "I know that now."

Shane tried his best not to break character as he leaned in to kiss her. The last thing he needed was to have to do this all over again, so he had to get it right the first time.

As their lips met, he felt a surge of electricity. He wrapped his arms around her small waist and pulled her close to him.

"CUT!" Max shouted.

She ran her fingers through his hair and licked his bottom lip teasingly. He felt a chill move down his spine as their tongues intertwined, and he pulled her closer.

"I SAID CUT…" Max shouted again.

They broke the kiss suddenly and both took a step back from one another. Victoria looked at him, her eyes wide. _Did she feel it, too?_

"Can we go?" she asked quickly, still staring at him in bewilderment.

"Yeah," Max told her. "Great job."

She turned around quickly and headed for her trailer. He did the same, ripping his costume off quickly and changing into his own clothes. He grabbed a makeup wipe and scrubbed his face with it. When he had gotten most of it off, he grabbed his wallet and cell phone and hurried down the street to the hotel.

Shane slammed the door of his room, leaning against it. What had just happened? He _hated _her; everything about her made him want to scream. He didn't even like looking at her. So why had he felt so different _kissing_ her? That hadn't been just any kiss – he'd kissed a lot of girls before, but none of them had ever been like that one.

_Maybe it was her character that made me feel that way…_he thought, but he knew it wasn't true. The only thing more obnoxious than Victoria was her character, Stacy. _Maybe I finally got the hang of this method acting thing? It was my character feeling that way?_

He couldn't get the look on her face after they had parted out of his mind. She looked just as confused as he was. But was it for the same reason? He couldn't ask her – even if she did feel something, she would probably deny it, but then it would be obvious that he hadn't hated kissing her. She would never let him live that down.

Shane jumped when he heard a loud knock on his door. He turned around and opened it, holding his breath when he saw Victoria standing there.

She had changed out of her costume, now wearing a tight, white tank top and a pair of denim cutoff shorts. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, and she was barefoot. Shane shifted uncomfortably; for the first time since he'd met her, he wanted to look at her. He wanted to do a lot more than look at her.

She had a strange look on her face, a mixture of shock, confusion, and fear. She seemed to be trying to look angry, but she couldn't. They stood in silence for several moments, just staring at each other. He looked deep into her green eyes, trying to figure out what she was thinking, but he couldn't even figure out what _he _was thinking.

Shane couldn't take the silence anymore. He felt like they had been standing there for hours. "Hi…"

Victoria wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his. She licked his bottom lip desperately, sliding her tongue into his mouth. He was caught completely off-guard by her advance, but he wasn't about to push her away so they could talk about their feelings. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body close to his. He took a couple steps back, bringing her with him and pushing the door closed.

She ran her hands down his torso to the bottom of his tee-shirt, pulling it up and over his head. Her hands felt hot against his skin, and any questions he wanted to ask her dissolved from his mind. Shane pulled the straps of her tank top off of her shoulders and pushed the thin fabric down to her waist, running his hands over her abdomen. Her tan skin was so soft underneath his fingertips. He slid his hands around her back again and unclasped her strapless bra, letting it fall to the floor in between them.

As she pulled at his belt, her bare chest pressed against his. He groaned, the need to touch and kiss every part of her growing stronger every second. When she pushed his jeans down to the floor, he knew he was about to have the chance.


	4. Chapter 4

"Wow," Shane sighed, collapsing next to her on the bed. He breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath. _And I thought the kiss was good…_

He snaked his arm around her waist and kissed her neck softly.

"Get off me," Victoria said sharply. She pushed his arm away from her and sat up, collecting her clothing and pulling them back on quickly.

He stared at her in amazement. "Are you kidding me?"

He pulled on his boxers quickly and intercepted her at the door.

"Get out of my way. I have to go," she ordered him, trying to duck passed him.

"No," he replied, trapping her between the wall and his arms. "What the hell is your problem? You treat me like shit, then you sleep with me, and now you're just going to treat me like shit again? What the hell did I ever do to you?"

"You're an asshole to me, too!"

"I wasn't until you made me completely miserable! Then, yeah, I got fed up with you," he reminded her. "You could at least have the decency to tell me why! And why you came here to have sex with me if you hate me so much."

"Does it really matter?" she asked bitterly.

Shane brought his face close to hers, emphasizing his words. "Yes, it fucking matters."

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "I dated this guy a couple years ago…you remind me so much of him."

"Then I guess I don't have to ask why you broke up with him…" he replied sarcastically.

She bit her lip trying to hide how uncomfortable she was. "I didn't break up with him. I loved him."

_Great, now I look like an asshole._ "He broke up with _you_?"

"No," Victoria shook her head, breaking their eye contact and staring at the floor. "He was killed in a car accident."

His jaw dropped. Now he really _felt_ like an asshole. "…oh."

"When I met you…you look like him, you sound like him, you act like him…I guess I just thought that if I was a bitch to you, you would leave me alone and I wouldn't have to think about Justin."

_So she doesn't hate me? She really is a good actress. _Shane's mind flashed back to earlier in the day – how sad she had looked at the end of their interview. Suddenly it made a lot more sense. "He called you Tori."

She nodded. "My family calls me Vicky, my friends just call me 'V' – which I hate – and he called me Tori."

"I'm sorry," was all he could say.

"Just…forget about it, okay?" she asked, but her eyes looked so sad.

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her tightly. He couldn't believe how much his feelings towards her had changed in just the past couple of hours. Before, all he could see was a mean, bitchy girl; he never would have guessed that she was just trying to mask so much pain. He wanted her to trust him, but how could she when she would only be reminded of Justin?

"You don't have to be mean to me to make me stay away. I'll leave you alone if that's what you want," he told her, though he really, _really_ hoped that she didn't want that.

"I don't know if it is," she admitted quietly, finally looking at him.

_Thank God_. "Do you want to order some food? We could get some dinner and watch a movie or something."

Victoria nodded. She sat down on the bed and Shane handed her the room service menu, pulling on his pants and tee-shirt before sitting down next to her.

"So…" he started casually, his head over her shoulder. "What do I call you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you said your family calls you Vicky, and you hate being called 'V'…" he reminded her.

"Oh," she replied, shrugging. "You can call me Tori, if you want, I guess."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Just because Justin was the only person who called me that doesn't mean he has to be the only person to _ever_ call me that."

"Okay," he smiled.

Shane didn't know what the hell was going on, and he couldn't have labeled his emotions if he tried. As he ordered their food, he watched her, hoping that some kind of answer would come to him; it only confused him more. Sitting against the headboard with her legs curled underneath her, flipping through the channels, she looked so sweet and beautiful. He couldn't see any hint of girl who had yelled at him constantly for the past three months. He didn't even know who that girl was.

But what did today mean? Were they together? Did she even _want_ to be together? Did _he_ want to be together? Was it nothing? How could she look so calm, anyways? Why wasn't she freaking out like he was? Or was she?

He tried to shake the thoughts from his head as he hung up the phone. He was afraid to ask her where they stood, so he just prayed that she would give him some kind of indication.

She handed him the remote control. "I'm not having much luck finding anything."

He flipped through a couple channels, stopping when he saw a familiar face on the screen. He smirked. "Hey, I've seen this movie."

It was _Anastasia_, the movie that had won Victoria an Oscar.

"Oh, God," she laughed, covering her eyes with her hands. "Change it. I never watch my movies."

"Never?" he asked, shocked. He changed the channel. "You've never seen them?"

She shook her head. "I watched the first one I did and I criticized my performance the whole way though…I'm such a perfectionist. I always think I could have done better. So I just stopped watching."

"Wow," he replied. "Well, I'll tell you, you were perfect in _Anastasia_."

"Thank you," she blushed. "But I'm sure I wouldn't think so."

Shane smiled; he thought it was cute that she was embarrassed. He wanted to get to know her, but he _really_ wanted her to get to know him – so she would see that he wasn't like Justin and would stop thinking about him when she was with Shane.

"Tell me something," Shane told her, turning off the television. "Now that I know you're not a bitch, I feel like we just met."

Victoria laughed, hitting him playfully. "Well…I'm from Seattle…my favorite color is pink…"

"Something I couldn't find if I googled you," he clarified.

She looked at him suspiciously. "_Have_ you googled me?"

"Have _you_ googled _me_?" he asked, not wanting to answer the question.

She smirked, running her fingers through her long hair. She looked embarrassed again. "Yeah, I have."

Shane's heart started beating faster. He hadn't expected that answer. Actually, he hadn't expected an answer at all. "I've googled you, too."

The way she looked when she smiled made him want to kiss her again. He couldn't remember ever seeing her smile when she wasn't acting. She had an incredible smile.

Just when he had gotten up the nerve to try to kiss her, there was a knock on the door. He sighed and got up to open it, taking their dinner from the hotel employee. He thanked him and handed up a tip before rolling the cart back over to the bed.

Victoria looked at the clock. "Ooh, I have to eat fast. I need to get to the airport."

"You're leaving tonight?" he asked, trying to hide his disappointment.

She nodded and took a bite of her salad. Shane hadn't even thought about the fact that they were going home – he wouldn't get to see her until they started their publicity tour in a week. He didn't want to be away from her, but at least when they saw each other again he would have a whole month with her. And this time, he was going to spend as much time with her as possible.

"I'm taking online classes," she told him. "To get my degree, in writing."

"What?" he asked, interrupted from his own thoughts.

She smiled. "You probably wouldn't find that on Google."

"Why? You don't want to act anymore?"

"No, I love acting," Victoria told him. "But beauty fades, and eventually nobody will care about me anymore. I probably won't need the money, but I'm too restless not to do anything. I would freak out if I didn't have anything to do…I think I would be good at writing movies."

"That's really cool," Shane replied. He suddenly felt bad for having always thought she was shallow, and he hated all of the guys that only saw her as a hot body; there was so much more to her. "But I don't think your beauty is going to fade."


	5. Chapter 5

Shane waited nervously as passengers began to exit the terminal and flooded LaGuardia Airport. His flight to New York City had gotten in last night, and he had convinced Victoria's publicist, Frank, to let him pick her up instead of sending a car. When he asked why, Shane had said, "Um…it will be good press, for the movie, you know. Someone told the paparazzi about how we always fight, and I'm just afraid people won't like the movie as much if they think that."

Frank seemed to accept that answer, which saved Shane the embarrassment of explaining that he had been thinking about her every second of every day for the last week. That he had been stressing out about whether or not he should kiss her when he saw her. That he had actually practiced greeting her on one of his female friends, perfecting a way to hug her that would allow her to kiss him if she wanted to, but made wouldn't make it look like he was trying to kiss her.

He had also been freaking out about the tabloids. She was always a favorite of the paparazzi, and in the last week she had been photographed a lot with professional baseball player named Carson Parker. The pictures were always accompanied with a headline about 'their secret love affair,' or something equally cheesy. But what if it was true?

His heart started to beat harder when he saw her emerge from the terminal. He waved to her. "Tori, hey!"

Victoria looked surprised, but happy, to see him. As she came towards him, he felt butterflies in his stomach like he never had before. Should he initiate the hug, or should he wait to see if she did?

Luckily, he didn't have to decide. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. "Hey, I didn't expect to see you."

_Better than nothing_, he thought, though he had really been hoping for a real kiss. It would have made everything so much easier, knowing where they stood.

"How are you?" he asked, taking a step back to admire her. She had straightened her hair, which she never did. She wore a pair of jeans, a pink tee-shirt, and sneakers; he had never seen her dressed so casually, and he thought she was even more beautiful this way. He'd also never stood next to her when she didn't have high heels on, and it was nice to finally be taller than her. "Let me take that."

"Thanks," she smiled, handing him her carry-on bag. "I'm good. How are you?"

"Good," he echoed, though he really wanted to say _I'm nervous as hell being around you but I feel great at the same time and I'd be even better if I could kiss you right now._ He decided that was probably something he shouldn't blurt out in an airport before she even knew anything about him.

As they made their way through baggage claims, they were bombarded by people asking for autographs and pictures. They happily obliged the fans, eventually making it to the main entrance of the airport. They were greeted by camera flashes in every direction, with questions being shouted at them.

"Victoria!" one of them shouted as they passed him. "What's going on with you and Carson?"

"Nothing," she laughed. "He's my best friend."

He opened the passenger-side door of his rental black Escalade, letting her climb inside before closing the door and going over to the driver's side. He put the keys in the ignition and started the SUV.

"Carson Parker, huh?" he smiled, trying to sound like he was teasing her instead of trying to get information out of her. "Is that a thing? Off the record, obviously."

"No!" Victoria laughed. "We're just friends, seriously. He's…well, you have to swear on your life that you will never tell anybody this."

"I swear," he told her. He tried to hide the excitement he felt because she trusted him with a secret.

She lowered her voice, as though the cameramen jogging next to the car as they pulled out of the parking lot could hear her. "He's gay."

"No way," he laughed. "_Carson Parker_? But he's so like, I don't know…macho."

"Well, what about you?" she asked, hitting him playfully. "I read Perez every day, it looked like you and Marci Hayes were…"

"Oh, God, no! Don't even say it," he begged her. "She's doing a song on our new album. I took her to dinner just to be nice…it was horrible. And I honestly believe she might be the most boring person in the whole world."

"I've met her a couple times and I definitely got that vibe," Victoria smirked.

"At least you didn't have to tell her to get her hands off of you every thirty seconds," he laughed. "I finally just admitted that I'm already interested in someone else."

_Shit…I did __**not**__ mean for that to come out._

"Oooh," she said teasingly. "Who's the lucky lady?"

He shook his head and hoped that she would drop it. But at the same time, he wondered if he should just tell her. He thought he had heard a little disappointment in her voice, but maybe he was just hearing what he wanted to hear.

"Come on, I told you a secret!" she replied, but he shook his head again. "What if I guess?"

Shane sighed. She wouldn't guess herself unless she hoped that it was her, right? "Okay, if you guess, I'll tell you."

Victoria thought for a moment. She ran her fingers through her hair; the little things like that she did made Shane want to tell her how he felt. He didn't want to keep his emotions to himself. _He_ wanted to run his fingers through her hair. "Mitchie Torres? I heard you two were…"

"We were," he admitted. "But she was just too…immature, I guess? And she would get crazy jealous, and I hate that. Like, if were still together right now, she would see those pictures the paps just took and be like, 'Oh my God, are you cheating on me? You slept with her, didn't you? Don't lie to me! I can't believe you would do that to me!'"

Victoria laughed. "Well…she wouldn't have been wrong."

His heart started racing again. It was weird to hear her admit that they had slept together. But he was glad she wasn't just pretending like it didn't happen. "Okay, bad example, but you know what I mean. And I don't think it would have happened if I had still been with her. But, no, Mitchie and I are not going to happen again."

"Hmm…what about that girl you were in that movie with? The blonde girl…Trisha something?"

"She's married," Shane smirked.

"I'm going to figure it out," she promised as he parked the car in front of the hotel. "I've got two months."

_And I've got two months to make you hope that it's you._


	6. Chapter 6

"Oh, hey," Victoria smiled when she poked her head out the door to her hotel room. "I was expecting Vera…she's late with my dress. Come in!"

"Oh, uh…" Shane started, surprised, when she opened the door; she was only wearing a strapless black bra and matching panties. "Sorry, I can come back later…"

"It's not like you haven't seen me in less," she smirked, motioning for him to come inside.

"Yeah, right," he forced a laugh, trying to act as nonchalant as she was about it.

"Looking pretty hot," she smiled and winked at him as he came into the room in a black, pinstriped suit with a white dress shirt, black vest, and black tie underneath.

The past three weeks had been equally amazing and confusing for Shane. He got to spend every day with Victoria, and the more he learned about her, the more he really, _really_, liked her. They had been on all of the talk shows promoting the movie and attending all kinds of events, and spent a lot of time together when they weren't filming. He had never had more fun in his life.

At the same time, he had never been more confused. Sometimes, it would seem like she was flirting with him, but she was always teasing him about the girl he was interested in. She was always linking arms with him, resting her head on his shoulder, and hugging him, but when Carson had been in New York for a baseball game and came to visit her, she had done the same with him. She would call him names like "honey" and "sweetie," but he wasn't the only one he did that to. But what was she doing now? Was this flirting, or is this just what she did with her friends?

"Thanks," he replied, taking a seat in a red chair while she went back to her hair dresser. He tried to suppress the thoughts of touching her soft, tan skin, but it was much harder than usual when she was sitting in front of him in her underwear.

They had flown back to LA last night for the Academy Awards. Victoria had been nominated for "Best Actress" for _As You Like It_, a film she had done about six months ago.

"Is Carson coming?"

"No, why?" she asked.

"I guess I just thought you would have a date to the Awards," he explained.

"I am."

Shane's face fell. He should have told her how he felt sooner. Now he had lost his chance. Someone else had beaten him to it. He tried to sound casual. "Oh…who?"

"You," she sounded as though it should have been obvious.

"Does Carson have a game or something?" he asked cautiously. He didn't want to get his hopes up just to find out that he had been the second choice.

"No," she smiled. "I want to go with you."

He couldn't stop a grin from spreading across his face. She wanted to go with him. Not Carson, not any other guy, but him.

"Can you get that, sweetie?" she asked him when she heard a knock at the door. "It must be my dress."

"Yeah, sure," he replied, getting up and opening the door. "Hey, come on in."

Vera Wang came into the room carrying a large dress bag. "So sorry I'm late! Let's get you in this dress!"

"Morgan Anderson," Victoria said as she stepped into the dress.

Shane laughed. Every day, she would make another guess about the girl that he was interested in. He was amazed that she hadn't figured it out yet. "Nope."

"Is this mystery girl going to be there tonight?" she asked. There were so many people circling her helping her with her dress, hair, and makeup, he couldn't even see her.

"Yep."

"I'm going to be watching you to see who you start making dreamy eyes at," she smirked. Someone zipped the back of her dress and she looked at herself in the mirror before turning to face him. "Do I look okay?"

Shane eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Her hair was pulled back into a loose bun, revealing diamond earrings on her ears, and she had just enough makeup on to emphasize her beautiful eyes and lips. Her strapless dress was a dark purple color accentuated with silver designs down the skirt and at the top of the bodice. Her strappy high heels matched her dress perfectly. He wanted to tell her how he felt more than anything, but not in front of Vera Wang and five other women he didn't know.

"Shane?"

Her voice snapped him back into reality. "Sorry…it's just…" he smiled, embarrassed to be stuttering like an idiot. "I don't think there's a word that describes how amazing you look."

Victoria blushed. "Thank you."

"But something's missing."

"What?" her stylists said, panicked, looking her up and down.

He smiled and pulled a long, narrow, black box from his pocket. He walked towards her and flipped open the box, removing a diamond necklace. The women gasped.

"Turn around," he told her.

"Shane, I can't…" she started, but he interrupted her.

"I'm not going to take it back," he smirked. "Turn around."

She did, and he draped the necklace around her neck and clasped the back. She looked at herself in the mirror, touching it gently.

"Perfect," he smiled.

She turned and wrapped her arms around him. "Why are you so sweet?"

_Because I think I'm falling in love with you_. "I, uh, I never thanked you for not yelling at me anymore."

She laughed and kissed him quickly. "Thank you. We should get going."

"Okay," he smiled.

She had kissed him. It was just a peck, but it still had to mean something, right? _I should tell her_.

"Tori…" Shane started, getting her attention as she searched for her clutch purse.

"Yeah?"

_I like you. I want to be your boyfriend. Let me make you happy._ He tried to get himself to say any of those things, but fear stopped him again. _What if it ruins her big night? What if it makes her uncomfortable around me? If she doesn't want to be around me anymore, I won't have the chance to show her why we should be together_.

He sighed, defeated. "You really do look incredible."

Victoria smiled, holding her hand out to him. "Thanks, sweetie."

As he took her hand and they exited the room, he cursed himself for being such a coward. He kept making excuses so that he didn't have to make himself vulnerable. He'd been hurt by girls before, but with her, it was different. He wasn't sure his heart would survive her rejection.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I apologize in advance if any of this doesn't make sense, it was written at 3am and I am too tired to read it over.**

"Victoria!" a thousand reporters screamed as soon as they stepped out of the limo and onto the red carpet.

She waved to the crowd and walked towards her friend, Mason Jergen. He hosted a show on MTV and was standing on the red carpet with a TV camera.

"Victoria, hi," he grinned, giving her a hug. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," she smiled.

"Who are you wearing?" he asked, tilting the microphone towards her.

"Vera Wang," she replied. "She is my fashion soul mate."

"And you're here with Shane Gray," Mason noted. "You guys have a new movie coming out soon, tell us about it."

"Yep, it comes out in about a month and a half, and we're both really excited," she told him. "It's called _The Popular Girl_, it's just a fun romantic comedy, so…check it out!"

"Now, you've been nominated for Best Actress for your roll in _As You Like It_. Are you nervous?"

"Ya know, I'm just really honored to have even have been nominated. I worked really hard on the film, but now it's out of my hands, so whatever happens, happens," she explained, avoiding the actual question. "I think everyone who was nominated deserves to win."

"Thanks for talking to us, and good luck," he told her.

"Thank you," she replied.

They walked further down the red carpet, waving to the fans that had lined up along the velvet ropes.

"I wish they'd just do one interview and give it to all of the reporters," she whispered to Shane. "It's the same questions a hundred times."

"It's the price you pay for the 10 thousand dollar goody bags," he joked.

"I do like those," she laughed. "Have you seen her?"

"Who?"

"The girl," she said, as though he should have known who she was talking about.

_I'm looking at her right now_. "Yes."

He saw Victoria survey the room, trying to decide which one of them it could be. "Shit."

"What's wrong?"

She sighed and lowered her voice. "Pierce Mathers is here…he asks me out every single time he sees me. If he comes over here, he's going to spend the whole night trying to pick me up."

Shane's blood nearly boiled at the thought. "So…do you want hide, or something?"

She thought for a moment. "Pretend you're my boyfriend."

"_What_?"

"Pretend you're my boyfriend," she repeated. "He won't bother me if he doesn't think he has a chance."

"Okay…" he agreed, his mind going into panic mode. _If I can be a good fake boyfriend, maybe she'll want me to be her real boyfriend_. "What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know, put your arm around me or something. Boyfriend stuff," she shrugged.

He snaked his arm around her waist, and it instantly felt natural. _This is how it should be_, he wanted to tell her.

They traveled down the long red carpet, and as she predicted, every interview consisted of almost the exact same questions. Once they finally got to take a seat in the large theatre, they still had to wait through almost the entire ceremony to get to the reason they were even there; the Best Actress award was announced second to last, followed only by Best Movie.

"I'm nervous," Victoria whispered to him as the winner for Best Actor finished his acceptance speech.

"Don't be," he smiled, taking her hand. "Whatever happens, happens, remember?"

"I didn't really mean that," she smirked. "It's just not polite to say that I think I deserve it way more than the rest of them and I'll be pissed if whoever runs this crap didn't notice."

He laughed. "Relax."

"And the winner for Best Actress is…" the presenter started, taking his time opening the envelope. Victoria squeezed Shane's hand, trying not to look nervous in case the TV cameras focused on her. "For her role in _As You Like It, _Victoria St. Claire!"

She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, shocked.

"Tori," Shane laughed when she didn't get up. "You heard him right. Get up there!"

"Oh my God," she smiled. She kissed him and then stood up, making her way to the stage.

He was sure that she gave a wonderful speech, but he didn't hear a word of it. She had kissed him. That beautiful girl standing on the stage had kissed him. And that _hadn't_ just been a peck. In front of all these people and everyone watching on television, she had kissed him. She had to know that the paparazzi were going to have a field day with that, and they would assume they were a couple. But if she knew that, and she did it anyways, is that what she wanted? To be a couple? He hoped so, more than anything.

"Congratulations," Shane grinned when she returned to her seat with her award.

"Thank you," she replied, kissing him on the cheek.

"Which after party do you want to go to?" he whispered to her as they presented the award for Best Movie.

"Do you mind if we just got back to the hotel?" she asked. "I hate after parties. They always just turn into a huge drama fest."

He laughed. He hadn't want to go out, either; he had been watching every guy there eyeing her the whole time they had been there, and he didn't know if he could control his jealousy if one of them had a few drinks and decided to try anything. "Yeah, that's cool."

"We can have our own little after party."

Shane prayed to any god who would listen that her words meant what they thought he meant. He put his arm around her waist as they exited the theatre, hurrying to the limousine. Amongst all of the other limos leaving the area, it seemed to take forever to get back to the hotel.

When they finally made it back, he ushered her into his room. Victoria excused herself to the bathroom, and he headed for the phone, pressing the button for room service.

"Yeah, hi, this is Shane Gray…can I get some champagne in room 610?" he asked.

"Yes, of course Mr. Gray, right away," the woman told him. He was glad she had recognized his name so he knew it would be sent up right away.

He was right; about a minute later, there was a knock on the door. He tipped the man and rolled the champagne cart into the room, pouring two glasses. He took his suit jacket off and hung it up in the closet.

"Can you unzip me?" Victoria asked as she walked over towards him. "I don't want to get anything on my dress."

"Do you want to go get something to change into first?"

"No," she replied innocently.

Shane's whole body tensed. He unzipped the back of her dress, trying to stop his hands from shaking. She stepped out of the dress and hung it up, standing in her bra and panties again. He couldn't help but check her out while her back was turned.

"Do you…um…want something to wear?" he asked nervously.

"Yes…" she gave him a sexy smile and stood close to him.

Victoria unbuttoned his vest and slid it off of his shoulders onto the floor, and loosed his tie. She slowly unbuttoned his shirt; he held his breath, his senses heightened. She pulled his shirt off of his arms and pulled it on her own body, leaving it unbuttoned. She picked up the champagne glasses from the cart and handed him one.

"To you," he smiled. "You kicked ass tonight."

"I did, didn't I?" she laughed, clinking her glass against his.

Shane sat down on the end of the bed and drank his champagne, trying not to look as anxious as he felt. They hadn't slept together since the press tour, but it certainly seemed like it was going to happen tonight. Of course, she had been teasing him for past three weeks, so maybe that was all she was doing. He wished he had any idea of what was going on in her mind.

Victoria smiled down at him and took the empty glass from his hand, setting it down on the cart along with hers. She stood in front of him and linked her hands behind his neck. He looked up at her, terrified of making the wrong move. He rested his hands on her hips, her skin hot against his.

She set her knees on the bed, straddling him. _I knew it_, he thought as she pressed her lips against hers. _I knew she wanted to be with me._ Shane wrapped his arms tightly around her; words could not express how he felt knowing he would get to wake up next to her tomorrow…his girlfriend.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is short, I just needed some kind of transition to the end. But I'm posting them at the same time, so hopefully that makes up for it.**

"It happened _again_?" Jason asked, shocked.

"Yes," Shane groaned, running his fingers through his hair.

There were two weeks left in the press tour, but he was taking two days off to do some talk show interviews – their new album was coming out the next day.

"How many times does that make it?" Nate asked.

Shane sighed heavily. "Three…after the Oscars, a couple weeks after that, and again last night."

He didn't know how much more of this he could take. Every couple of weeks, she would seduce him, and he would assume that it was different this time, that she wanted to be in a relationship with him. And, every time, he would wake up the next morning to find that they were still just friends.

"Has it ever occurred to you that she might be…oh, I don't know…_using you_?" Nate said sarcastically.

"Yeah, but she acts like she likes me sometimes…" Shane started. He realized it was useless to try to argue when his friend rolled his eyes.

"Okay, seriously, you have to tell her how you feel or forget about her. You can't let her keep doing this," Jason told him seriously. "It's borderline pathetic."

"Thank you, that makes me feel so much better!" Shane replied with obviously fake happiness.

He knew that he needed to tell her how he felt, but he was just so afraid of how she would react. Part of him thought that if she did like him, they would be together already and it wouldn't just look like she was using him for sex. But the other part of him couldn't forget how she acted when they were together; how she called him 'sweetie' all the time, hugged him, kissed his cheek, and flirted with him. Realistically, she only _had_ to be around him when they were doing press events, but she still _chose_ to spend most of her free time with him. Why would she do that if she didn't like him? She could have any guy she wanted, but she spent her time with him.

The paparazzi weren't making it any easier. Every morning there were new pictures of them on the covers of the tabloid magazines, questioning whether they were a couple or not. Even when Shane wasn't around her, he couldn't escape the thoughts of her; he was reminded every twenty feet when he walked passed a street vendor selling magazines.

"Think of it this way," Nate told him. "She knows that whenever she wants sex, you'll be there. Whenever she wants someone to cuddle with, you'll be there. Whenever she wants someone to talk to, to go to dinner with, to tell her she's beautiful, and whatever else, you're always there. You aren't giving her any reason to commit to you. You already give her everything she wants, and she doesn't have to give you anything. If the tables were turned, would you be doing anything different than she is?"

"Probably not," Shane admitted.

"So stop giving her everything. Give her a reason to be with you."

"But what if she doesn't want to be with me?" he sighed.

"Then why are you wasting your time?" Jason asked, jumping back into the conversation. When Shane didn't answer, he studied his friend's face closely. "Do you _love_ her?"

"No!" Shane replied quickly, genuinely not knowing the real answer. He'd been trying to avoid thinking about that; love would complicate it even further. "I mean…I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

Shane groaned, leaning his head back and resting it against the wall. Suddenly he wished he hadn't brought this up to his friends; he was happier living in denial. "I don't think I do…but I'm definitely heading in that direction."

Jason sighed. "You _have _to tell her."

"Does she still think you like some girl? You could try making her jealous. Make her think you're sleeping with some other girl, too," Nate suggested.

"Then what if she does the same thing?" Shane asked, as if Nate should have already thought of that.

"Yeah, I guess that could backfire…"

"I'm gonna tell her," Shane decided, trying to sound confident. "I'm going to tell her."


	9. Chapter 9

"What's up, Nate?" Shane said into his phone as he pushed open the door to his hotel room.

He dropped several bags to the floor as Victoria followed him inside. They had flown back to LA last night, and the movie premiere was tomorrow. They had the day off, so they decided to go shopping on Rodeo Drive.

He hadn't told her. If she _was_ using him, he wasn't sure he could stand knowing that; at least not when he still had to be around her. He had tried taking Nate's advice and not giving her everything she wanted, but the most he could really bring himself to do is tell her that he was busy a couple times when she wanted to hang out. Even then, he always ended up apologizing.

"You're kidding," he said, shocked. Victoria looked towards him questioningly, but he held up a finger to tell her to wait. "That's amazing! Okay…I'll see you tomorrow."

He flipped his cell phone shut and grinned at her. "The album just went platinum!"

"Oh my God!" she squealed. "That's incredible! Congratulations!"

He threw his arms around her and spun her in a circle. When he put her feet on the ground again, she looked up at him and gave him a sexy smile. She stood on her tip-toes and pressed her lips against his.

His whole body went on alert, like it always did when she kissed him. But this time, it hurt, and most of the joy he had just been feeling disappeared. After the premiere tomorrow, what if he never heard from her again? He wasn't sure he could handle being rejected by her, but he _really _couldn't live with never seeing her again; especially never knowing how she felt about him. It had been two months, and she still hadn't given him any clear indication of how she felt. He couldn't take not knowing anymore, and he couldn't take being used. The more he thought about the possibility, the faster he went from hurt to angry. As she moved her hands towards his belt, he knew that it was now or never.

"Tori, stop," he said.

He turned his head so that she couldn't kiss him, but she kissed his neck instead and started to undo his belt. He grabbed her wrists to stop her.

"I said 'stop'," he repeated, more seriously this time. She stopped kissing him and looked into his eyes, shocked. "Tori, what are we doing?"

Victoria looked at him as though it was a trick question. "It wasn't…obvious?"

Shane rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to slow the thoughts in his head enough to put together a coherent sentence. "I mean, what are we? Are we friends? Are we more than friends? You sleep with me, and then next day you act like nothing happened. You've been giving me all kinds of mixed signals for two months. I _need_ to know…what are we doing?"

"I…I don't know," she admitted, visibly flustered. "I…"

He held up his hand to stop her. "Tori…for the past two months, I've been trying to make you see that I could make you happy. But I guess I was wrong. I don't know. I just know that I can't be some guy that you sleep with when you're in the mood, because if I keep playing this game I'm really gonna fall in love with you and then this will all suck even more."

He glanced at her nervously, expecting to see the same shocked look on her face, but she did something that she didn't expect; she started laughing.

Shane's jaw dropped. "Unbelievable. I lay my heart on the line and you fucking _laugh at me_?"

He stormed out of the room, not sure whether or not he wanted to scream or cry. He had known there was a chance that she didn't feel the same way, but he had never expected that she would be cruel about it. He felt like he didn't know her at all. Maybe this had all been an act, and the real Victoria was the one who had made him miserable the whole time they were filming.

"Shane, wait," she called, running after him and grabbing his arm. "I wasn't laughing at you."

He turned around and glared at her. She was still grinning but suddenly he didn't think it was cute at all.

"Oh, really? You just thought about something funny that happened yesterday?" he asked sarcastically.

He turned to leave again, but she stopped him with her words.

"I laughed because for the past two months, I've been trying to figure out who this dumb bitch you have a crush on is, so that I could make you see…that I could make you so much happier than she could."

He turned and stared at her, a small smile spreading across his face. "Are you serious?"

She nodded, embarrassed. "Remember at the Oscars when I told you that Pierce Mathers always tried to hit on me so I made you act like my boyfriend?"

"Yeah…"

"I've never even met him," she admitted. "I just wanted the bitch to see us together so she wouldn't try to talk to you. And I thought that if she liked you back, when the tabloids started spreading rumors about us being together, she would just give up."

"That's evil," he laughed.

"I know," she grinned. "If I'd known that _I_ was the dumb bitch…"

Whatever she was going to say next, he would never know, and he didn't really care. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her passionately. _She liked me, too…this whole time._ He walked her back to his room, not breaking the kiss until they were inside. He looked at her and smiled, their foreheads pressed together.

"What?" she asked.

"I'm just excited to take you to the premiere tomorrow," he told her. "As my girlfriend."

"I don't remember saying anything about being your _girlfriend_…" she joked.

"You really want me to ask you?" he laughed, and she nodded, obviously teasing him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, looking her dead in the eyes. "Tori…will you be my girlfriend?"

Victoria pretended to consider it for a moment. "Well…yeah, I guess so."

"I was hoping you'd say that," he grinned, pressing his lips against hers again.

His album went platinum and he had a new movie coming out, but none of that matter. He had the girl of his dreams, the girl he was quickly falling in love with, the girl he never wanted to be without.

_And I'm never letting her go._

**A/N: Thanks for reading! REVIEW!! Maybe a sequel if enough people want it.**


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